Biography of Dámaso Alonso (1898-1990)

Writer, poet, critic and Spanish philologist, born in Madrid in 1898 and died in the same town on January 25, 1990.

Dámaso Alonso, disciple of Menéndez Pidal, was Professor at universities of United States, Britain and Peru until the year 1939, that happened to his master in the Chair in romance Philology from the University of Madrid. He actively collaborated in the Centre of historical studies and in the Revista de Filología Española, where he published his first scientific work. His poetic career is based on a first period in which aims to overcome the formulas of modernism's break with the established and that already looms realism"lexicon", its main literary contribution, as evidenced by his juvenile poems cigars and Poemillas of the city (1921); from there, moves into the poetry of existential root of children of wrath (1944), affected by the climate of the post-war period; in its last stage, conciliator, acquires a character as we see in man and God (1958); this optimistic vision offers the joys of sight (1981, although the poems belong to a previous time). As a critic, it will examine various poets and writers, especially to Góngora, from the stylistic idealist; will rediscover it to Góngora in 1927 with an Edition accompanied by version in prose of the solitudes; from there, Alonso is devoted to the claim of the gongorina aesthetic, task that is granted him the national prize for literature, that same year, with its poetic language of Góngora (1935). The publication of Góngora and the Polifemo, in that study, edit and give version in prose of the fable of Polyphemus and Galatea (1960) should be considered as a landmark. The Spanish classics to dedicated one large study of stylistics: Spanish poetry. Testing methods and stylistic boundaries (1952).

Also famous are his studies on the poetry of popular type, the ballads, the jarchas and so many other texts and authors. For years, a Madrid Publisher is editing his complete works. "Alonso Donado", a pseudonym that signed some works, was director of the Royal Academy of the Spanish language during the years 1969-1982, institution to which he belonged since 1945; He was also a member of many other national academies and doctor honoris causa of many universities. It was the national literature Miguel de Cervantes award in 1978.

On 11 November 1998, the Kings of Spain opened in the Royal Spanish language Academy room Dámaso Alonso, entirely dedicated to the library of the late director of this institution. It includes about 40,000 volumes and valuable personal items that belonged to the writer.